Year 1/2

Welcome

Dear Families,

Welcome to Term Four. We hope that you had a restful and enjoyable break. We look forward to educating your children and celebrating their many achievements and progress throughout the final term of 2024. 

Our Learning this Term

English

In Term Four, our Literacy focus is on exploring nonfiction texts related to the seasons. In Reading, students will learn about many aspects of the changing seasons and their effects on humans, animals, and plants. They are learning content-specific vocabulary and practising choosing the most appropriate words to complete sentences accurately. Students will use clues from the text and images to answer inferential questions and learn to navigate websites and links online.

Writing

In Writing, students are learning to record keywords from nonfiction text on a data chart. They will use these keywords to write facts that match the corresponding subheading to create an information report. Students also develop their speaking and listening skills by orally presenting their posters to an audience. 

Students have the opportunity to borrow books from the school library weekly.

Students will continue to select a take-home reading book each day to share with their families. Reading with your children at home has many benefits, including fostering a love of reading, developing listening skills, reading comprehension, vocabulary development, and establishing essential foundational literacy skills.

Parent Helpers

We welcome and encourage all Parent Helpers in the classroom. Please speak to your child’s teacher about being a helper if you would like to assist. Students love seeing their family members help out in classrooms. Please come on in!

We ask that parents sign in at the office before commencing their session. 

Please be aware that all Classroom Helpers must have a current Working with Children Check.

Religion

In Term Four, the students are beginning their Religious Education learning by exploring the Creation Story.  They will retell the events of God’s creation and identify its goodness and beauty.  The students will explore stewardship in the Catholic Tradition and identify actions that can be undertaken to protect God’s world.  They will also explore ways in which they can care for the gift of our world that God has given us.

In preparation for our celebrations of the Feast Day of St Andrew on Friday, November 29th, the students will explore scripture in the New Testament of the Bible and learn about the story of the call of Saint Andrew, the Patron Saint of Fishermen. They will also learn about the history of St Andrew’s School and Parish Community. We will also celebrate St Andrew at a school Mass on Tuesday, November 26th.

The students will learn about Advent as a time of waiting, hoping and preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. They will look at ways in which the Church prepares for Christmas. The students will consider the significance of Mary saying ‘yes’ to God’s invitation to be the mother of Jesus and reflect on Mary's qualities. 

Class Parish Mass

Students and teachers will attend a class Parish Mass and we warmly welcome families to attend if possible.

Dates are as follows:

Maths

Students have begun Term 4 by completing their learning about Multiplication and Division. They have also learned about equal groups, arrays, and repeated addition. They have also been learning about sharing and dividing into equal groups.

Students will then explore solving Addition and Subtraction questions through worded problems. They will identify efficient strategies for solving problems and explain their thinking. 

For example;

Matteo had 9 donuts. He dropped some donuts. He has 2 donuts left. How many donuts did Matteo drop?

9 - ⬜ = 2

A nest had some birds. 16 more landed in the nest and now there are 34 birds. How many birds were in the nest at the start?

⬜ + 16 = 34

Other topics that will be covered this term include the following:

Week 6-7: Mass and Capacity     

Week 8-9: Money and Financial Maths

Week 10: Number Patterns

Inquiry Learning

Our final inquiry unit this year addresses the question:

How are living things affected by changes in seasons? 

Throughout this unit, the students will explore the wonders of Earth and Space science. They will examine exciting things like day and night, the seasons, how animals and people are affected by seasons, and how different seasons are experienced around the world.

A highlight of the unit will be our incursion at school on Thursday, October 31st (Week 4). This incursion includes students' opportunity to step inside the Science Discovery Dome. Throughout the incursion, the students will have a thrilling experience in the planetarium-like dome and participate in exciting activities.

To celebrate the students' newfound knowledge, they will create their very own diorama at the end of the unit. This diorama will focus on a specific season, and students will have to show how people, plants, and animals are affected by that season. Please bring in boxes and resources for students to use for their dioramas. We cannot wait to share what we have learned with you!

Classroom Organisation

Over this year, the students in Year 1/2 have developed independence in and around our learning environment. Students are encouraged to continue displaying this through things such as being responsible for:

• Unpacking bags at school

• Organising their take-home readers

• Organising their personal belongings

• Handing in any notes

• Bringing back library books and bags on their assigned day

• Being punctual to class and ready for learning. 

After 8:50 am, students must report to the office to be registered as late for the day.

If your child is absent from school, we must receive notification of this in writing, either via the Audiri app, an email to the classroom teacher/office, a phone call to the school office, or a note handed to the teacher.

All 1/2 students will participate in our Specialist Program on Tuesday: Italian, Art, Performing Arts, and PE.  Please remember that every Tuesday, the students are expected to wear their runners and P.E. uniforms to school for Physical Education. 

On all other days of the week, it is important that students wear their school shoes and full school summer uniform. 

Hats are to be worn in Terms 1 & 4. Please ensure that your child has a St Andrew’s school hat. Sunscreen is also provided in classrooms if you choose to have your child use it. Please advise your child on how to apply sunscreen, as this will be their responsibility. 

Library Sessions have commenced this term. Please remember to return all Library books and bring along a Library bag before or by the day of your child’s lesson. Class lesson days and times are noted below:

1/2A - Tuesdays

1/2W, 1/2L, 1/2V & 1/2Q - Wednesdays

Key Dates

October:

• Saturday 26th - St Andrew’s Fun Fair 
• Tuesday 29th - St Andrew’s Got Talent Show - Juniors 2:15-3:05, Seniors 3:45-4:45
• Thursday 31st - Year 1/2 Science Discovery Dome Incursion

November:

• Monday 4th - School Closure Day
• Tuesday 5th - Melbourne Cup - School Closure Day
• Wednesday 6th - Sushi Lunch
• Monday 18th - Last Week of Borrowing From the Library
• Friday 22nd - School Closure Day
• Tuesday 26th - Feast of St Andrew’s Mass
• Friday 29th - St Andrew’s Feast Day Celebrations

December:

• Monday 9th - Semester 2 Reports available on Nforma
• Monday 9th - Move Up Session 1
• Wednesday 11th - Move Up Session 2
• Friday 13th - Move Up Session 3
• Tuesday 17th - End of Year Mass

Key Dates can also be found in the school newsletter. 

How to Contact Us

Natalie Arhontis                         narhontis@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Lucy Levett                                 llevett@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Lauren Quintal                           lquintal@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Gabi Vass                                    gvass@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Jenny Stewart                            jstewart@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Karen Williams                          kwilliams@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

As a school, our policy on returning emails is that emails are responded to within a 48 hour time frame and within the hours of 8.00am-4.45pm.  We know there are many times that parents need to email school staff due to many family and work commitments, which can continue as normal, but please allow staff 48 hours to respond, between the designated hours.

SPECIALIST PROGRAMS

L.O.T.E. Italian

Welcome to Term 4.

The students will begin this term by revising, recycling and consolidating previously acquired language through written and oral activities. Using modelled language, students will create a design of their own ‘orto’ (vegetable garden) and a simple dialogue to re-enact a scenario of planting and cultivating it. They will also explore and learn the vocabulary of animals and insects in a vegetable garden this term. They will continue to develop their skills in Italian and build on their vocabulary knowledge by completing a poster where they draw a picture of their favourite animal or insect and write a few sentences using familiar language and the definite articles, il la. Students will also discuss the use of fresh vegetables in Italian cooking and volunteer a recipe with a lot of vegetables: Il minestrone. Students then draw pictures of each vegetable in the pot then label and colour them. The students are then introduced to the song Il Minestrone. During the lessons the students will be participating in singing songs, playing games, quizzes, reciting chants and completing varied classroom activities to reinforce their knowledge and understanding.

Cordiali saluti

Signora White

Physical Education

Welcome to the last term of the year!     

The 1/2s will continue to work on the fundamental skills needed for all sports, including listening, teamwork and positive communication. We will focus on catching and throwing skills at the start of the term. Toward the end of the term, we will work in groups for some games done in rotation. During these rotations, they will demonstrate all of the skills we have learnt throughout the year - including listening, teamwork, communication, catching, throwing, kicking, etc, using many different objects. Each day will consist of something new and exciting to keep them engaged and enthusiastic about exercise! 

We are looking forward to a fun last term of learning! 

Miss Puetz 

Art 

Welcome back to the last term of the year. Exciting things are happening in the art room! The children began the term with some abstract artwork. They made patchwork trees using black cardboard strips and coloured them with vibrant oil pastels. We will be doing lots of art, using various techniques to help improve our artistic skills. They will enjoy using coloured slicks and blending oil pastels to create different shades.

We look forward to making Remembrance Day and Christmas crafts later in the term.

Lots of beautiful art and fun to come,

Mrs. Cathy Bartlett Visual Arts teacher

 Performing Arts

Hello 1/2 Students and Families and welcome back to Term 4.

This term in Performing Arts, students will have an opportunity to further their understanding of music, particularly in learning notes of the treble clef. We’ll be playing “Staff Wars” and “Stuck in the Music” to help students learn how to identify notes on the treble clef.

Songs and Rhymes such as Lemonade, Crunchy Ice, and Jazzy Jive will allow students to improvise with rhythms and sounds, apply their knowledge of musical terminology, and demonstrate their ability to play at different speeds (tempo) and either loud or soft (dynamics). 

Finally, towards the end of term (but not too early), we’ll be singing and playing some Christmas Carols and Songs to help build student confidence in themselves in readiness for a production for grade 3-6 next year.

Wishing everyone a fun and fantastic term!

Happy Singing and Dancing,

Mrs Emma Cooper